Abstract
Abstract Objective: To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of elderly quilombolas (residents of quilombo settlements first established by escaped slaves) in mixed urban and rural residential developments (agrovilas) in Alcântara, Maranhão, Brazil. Method: An observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed. The sample consisted of 129 elderly people of both genders, aged 60 years or older and living in northeastern Brazil. The sample was allocated into three groups, distributed according to geographic space. Quality of life was assessed using the WHOQoL-Bref instrument and a sociodemographic questionnaire was applied. The comparison between groups was carried out using the Anova test (one-way) and subsequently the Bonferroni Post-Hoc test. The correlation was obtained by the Pearson test, p<0.05. Results: Elderly quilombolas had a mean age of 69.7 years (±7.9) and were predominantly men with low income and schooling. Quality of life had higher scores in the social domain (values) and lower in the environmental domain (values). Quality of life as measured by the psychological domain was higher in group I than in groups II (p=0.012) and III (p=0.002). The facets of QoL correlated with facets of health for group I (r=0.357; p=0.032) and III (r=0.461; p<0.001). Conclusion: The situation of the quilombola population surveyed is considered vulnerable and psychological factors influence QoL.
Highlights
The quilomba population is vulnerable to diseases that include social aspects, both at different stages of life and on an individual basis[1]
The social relations average scores had the highest percentage values among the four domains analyzed for all the studied agrovilas
The study found a predominance of men in relation to women, and a prevalence of young elderly persons with an average age of 67 years, who were married and/or widowed, and had low education levels and income
Summary
The quilomba (residents of quilombo settlements originally established by escaped slaves) population is vulnerable to diseases that include social aspects, both at different stages of life and on an individual basis[1]. The situation of vulnerability experienced by the black population in Brazil was recognized by the Brazilian federal government when it created the Special Secretariat of Racial Equality Promotion Policies (or Seppir) in 20032; through the Brazil Quilomba Program in 2004; and with the establishment of the National Policy of the Integral Health of the Black Population (or PNSIPN) in 20092. This emphasizes the need to guarantee and expand the access of the rural population, quilomba populations, to health actions and services[2].
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